Beyond just offering users with wi-fi enabled devices access to the net via a standard wireless network, the airangel branded gateway offers genuine added value to hotel customers, whilst also giving the hotel itself the opportunity to get much closer to its guests and communicate to them in a highly targeted and strategic way. Further, most airangel hotel networks do not operate on the traditional pay as you go (PAYG) shared revenue model – they are often free or a reasonable rate for guests to use once they have collected a special branded guest voucher when they check-in.
However, once a guest has logged on they are automatically directed to a dedicated hotel ‘home page’ that acts as a gateway to the web. But the hotel’s home page is more than just a passive ‘skin’ that sits over a web-browser – it is a fully interactive, content driven portal that delivers hotel customers a raft of local information, services and genuinely useful information that would be impossible to communicate in a traditional hotel welcome pack or via hotel teletext.
For example, at the Radisson SAS in Glasgow guests are given access to not only updated details of the hotel’s own restaurant menus, but also recommended bars and restaurants near by that are personally selected by the General Manager, with the understanding that guests may want to venture further a field. The gateway also contains news and information regarding all other hotel facilities and services – from a timetable of classes in the health club to the full specifications of all meeting and conference rooms. This highly personalised, detailed and easily accessible content is complimented by tourist information, hotel special offers and a host of other useful information that can be updated by the hotel in an instant.
Of course, if guests simply want to get online they can easily click through to a web browser like internet explorer- but airangel have found that once guests experience the friendly hotel interface most actively explore it and interactive with.
Commenting on the airangel network live at the Radisson SAS in Glasgow, General Manager Philip Mahoney said: “Since last year all Radisson SAS hotels have offered free wi-fi for guests, but since we have had the airangel portal up and running I’ve been genuinely amazed how may guests have commented on it positively. Not only is it free for guests to use, which in itself is unusual, it also delivers a high level of detailed and useful information that our customers really respond to. With regard to both business and leisure guests, it has proved a great marketing platform for our business development and loyalty campaigns, offered a real selling point in a highly competitive city centre market and overall is an invaluable communications tool for the hotel.”
Daniel Lister, airangel’s Commercial Director, added: “Our content rich approach, combined with in some cases free, yet controlled customer access is set to be a real threat to the simple ‘pay to surf’ hotspot models currently operating in many hotels and other public spaces. This deal also reflects how some of the hotel sector is seriously utilising the creative marketing opportunities offered by broadband, far beyond just giving their customers access to the web.”
All of airangel’s hotel networks are developed and maintained remotely by airangel’s team of designers, programmers and web-masters. The secure wi-fi networks themselves have been developed in partnership with Nomadix, a leading global supplier of public access wi-fi gateways and services. Based in California, Nomadix specialise in developing “zero user configuration” solutions for public access hotspots.
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